Automatic weight-indicating attachment for beam-scales.



G. GULDBRANDSEN.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHT INDICATING ATTACHMENT FOR BEAM SCALES,

APPLICATION I'ILED AuG.28. I914.

1 ,251,01 6. Patented Dec. 25, 191?:

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

Vii/736.9 6?

Iii/1M Ammzq G. GULDBRANDSEN.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHT mmcmmcs ATTACHMENT FOR BEAM SCALES.

APPUCATION HLED AUG.28 1914. 1 ,25 1,01 6, Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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AUToMArIo wnmnrannrearme arraignment non, BEAM-SCALES.

. sp a e s 1 1 1- Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed August 28, 1.314v Serial No. 858,997.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it 'known that I, GULDBRAND ,GULD- BRANDSEN, a citizen of Denmark, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic (Veight- Indicating Attachments for Beam-Scales; and'I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. v H

This invention has for its object to provide an attachment for beam-scales adapted to be actuated by the beam of the scale to automatically indicate on a dial, or similar registering device, the weight of the load on the scale-platform without requiring the usual adjustment of the position of any weight on the scale-beam itself. 1

The invention consists inthe features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrat-' ing my invention: 7

Figure 1 's a view in side elevation of the upper portion of a beam-scale equipped with an attachment embodying my invention. 7 v

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary per spective view showing theindicating-handoperating portion of the attachment thereto.

Fig. 3- is an end elevation of the matter illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the use of beam scales it is necessary, for ascertaining the weight of each parcel, package or load placed on the scale platform, to adjust the sliding weight carried by the scale-beam, and where said weight exceeds the maximum weight indicative by adjustment of said movable weight on the scale beam to the last graduation thereon, it is further necessary to place other balanceweights on the depending rod carried by the outer end of the beam. This renders the operation of weighing numerous packages or loads relatively slow and, where scales are used to a great extent, as in railroad freight houses and similar places, economy in the time required to ascertain the weight of hese Pa ag s very de a The object of my invention is to provide an attachment operable from the scale-beam with automaticallyindicating means to-come quickly to a stop without in any way affecting the delicacy or accuracy of the weightascertaining mechanism.

Other objects of theinvention relate more particularly to details of construction hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed. 1'

In, the accompanying drawings 1 have shown the upper port-ion of a beam-scale including thescale-beam 1 having the sliding balance-weight 2 mounted thereon, the said scalebeam being hung in the usual manner. The outer'endportion 3 of said beam carries the usual depending rod 4 upon whieha counter-weight 5:-is mounted, the latter being adapted to support additional balance weights in the usual and well-known manner. The lower end otsaid rod 4 is connected by means of a link 6 with a beam for lever 7 hung between its ends upon knife Pivots Scarried'upon astandard 9 mounted upon the cross-piece 10 at'theupper end portion of the beam scale and which .supports the base plate of my said attachment upon which is mounted the standard 11 carrying the scale beam 1. a V

The said standard ,9 carrying saidknife pivots 8 is disposed contiguous to a standard '12 at the upper end portion of which a scale beam 13 is pivotally supported between its ends upon the knife-pivot members-Hearried by saidbeam 13 and engaging in the concave recesses 15 in the upper end'of said standard 12 and in a bracket 16 integral with the latter, the scale-beam 13 being disposed between the upper end portion of said standard and the opposed parallel arm ,of said-bracket 16. At oneend of said scalebeam 'I-provide a depending counter-weight 17 which has threaded engagement with a rod 18 which is integral with a plate or flange 19 pivotally secured to the beam 13 by means of av set screw 20 and which is provided with a slot 21 between the point of its engagement with said set screw 20 and the rod 18 and is concentric with the axis of said set-screw. A set-screw 22-passes through said slot 21 into the beam 18 and enables the position of the plate on vsaid beam 13 to be adjusted within the limits fixed by the length of said slot 21 whereby the weight 17 will be swung to lie at varying distances from the vertical plane of the axis of oscillation of said beam 13. The said weight 17 will be hereinafter referred to as the pendulum-weight, it being obvious that as the beam 13 oscillates said weight will shift its position relatively to the vertical plane of the axis of the knife pivot member 14 in the manner of a pendulum thereby resisting actuation of said beam 13 by the scale-beam l as hereinaftermore fully set forth.

Secured at the ends of its arms to the beam 13 on respectively opposite sides of the pivotal support of the latter is a V-shaped brace 23, the elbow portion of which is secured to a depending rocker arm 2 1 rigid with the beam 13 and mounted upon a pin 25 'propecting laterally from the latter 1n the vertical plane of the pivotal support therefor, the said brace 23 being adapted to insure rigidity of said arm 24: relatively to the beam 13. The latteris connected with the other end of the beam 7 by means of a link 26 in a. well-known manner; said connection being effected with the end-portion of the beam 13 on the opposite side of its pivotal support from that carrying said weight 17. Thus, any movement of the beam 1 will be communicated through the beam 7 to the beam 13 and the said arm 24:. The beam 13 is further provided on its lastnamed end with an adjustable sliding balance weight 27 which together with the adjustability of the weight 17 enables a perfect adjustment andbalancing of the attachment as will be obvious. Atthe extreme last-named end portion of the beam 13 the latter carries a depending rod or plunger 28 which carries a plurality of what may be termed piston members 29 which fit relatively loosely in a cylindrical dash pot 30 carried upon the base plate of the attachment, and which is filled with a liquid such as a lubricating oil, and is adapted to prevent free oscillation or vibration of the beam 13 for reasons hereinafter more fully pointed out. By thus equipping the plunger with a plurality of pistons spaced from one another along the axis of the plunger, I am able to obtain an unusually effective dampening action, as the oil must successively pass around each of the consecutive pistons when the plunger descends or ascends in the dashpot.

At the rear edge of the base 31 of my said attachment is an upwardly projecting flange 32 constituting the rear wall of a housing for the aforesaid mechanism, said flange having a segmental upper edge concentric with which is a segmental indicating dial 33 concentric with and upon the graduations of which the free end portion of an indicating hand is adapted to indicate the weights of loads on the scale platform. The said hand is pivotally mounted at its other end in ballbearings 35 in parallel vertical standards 36 mounted upon the base 31, and at its lower end said hand is provided with a threaded projection 37 carrying a counterweight 38 which is adapted to maintain said hand 3& normally in register with the middle point of the segmental dial 33. he said hand 1S connected, immediately above its pivotal connection with the standards 36 and by means of a link 39, with the said arm 24 atthe lower end of the latter, said link 39 being pivotally connected with the hand and said arm by suitable -me'ans adapted to minimize friction. As the arm 2-1 oscillates it will obviously oscillate the hand 34 so that the latter will move over the dial and indicate weight thereon.

Assuming that the capacity of the scale is to weigh a load not exceedin one thousand pounds, and that the graduations of the dial 33 extend from zero at the left to one thousand at the right, then, if the weight 2 is placed on the scale-beam 1 to register with the Zero graduation thereof the said "hand 14 will normally register with the zero graduation of the dial 33. As a weightis imposed upon the scale-platform the beam 1 will swing upwardly at its outer end and this movement will be imparted to the beam 7 and through the latter to the beam 13 and indicating hand 34:, thus causing the latter to move toward the right. The movement of the beam 13 is resisted by the pendulumweight 7, the center of gravity of which moves gradually farther from the pivotal axis of said beam as the outer end of the scale beam 1 rises, in a well-known manner. The movement of the scale-beam 13 causes the displacement or movement of a part of the oil in the dash pot 3O frombelow to above the piston members, and this will obviously cause the hand 34 as well as the beam 13 and parts connected therewith to rapidly come to rest so that the hand 34 will indicate the correct weight of a load on the scale platform. The said dash-pot 30does not, because of the freedom of movement of the piston members therein, impose friction upon the mechanism and does not in any way afiect the delicacy and accuracy of the operation of such mechanism.

As the weight 2 is moved toward the outer end of the beam 1 to register, for example, with the last graduation of said beam 1, no weight unless in excess of one thousand pounds placed upon the scale platform will cause the beam 1 to swing upwardly, and consequently the position of the weight 2 on the beam 1 does not in any way aflect the operation of the attachment. If a weight in excess 'of' one thousand pounds is placed upon the scale platform when the weightZ is positioned to registep vith the 1000 graduation of the bahil the latter will be swung upwardly, thereby causing the hand 34 to indicate on the dial33 the weight of the load in excess of one thousand pounds. And similarly if additional counterweights are disposed upon the counterbalance weight 5, then said attachment will indlcateonl'y" the weight of the load in excess of the mini mum at which such load will actuate said beam 1.

It will be observed that my said attachment is very simple in construction and affords no delicate parts which will easily get out of order, or which will require expert service for adjustment or repair. Moreover, the attachment of my invention can readily be applied to present scales by removing the previously used counterpoise, and attaching the counterpoise connectedto my appliance. So also, in case of any accident to my attachment, or derangement of the same, it can quickly be detached by unhooking the counterpoise rod 4 and replacing it with the ordinary type of counterpoise, after which the scale can be used in the usual manner.

I claim as my invention:

1. An attachment for a beam scale comprising an auxiliary beam linked at one end to the free end of the main beam, a pendulum lever beam linked to the opposite end of the auxiliary beam and arranged to counterbalance said auxiliary beam, a pivotally mounted indicator hand also linked to said pendulum lever for operation thereby and a dial over which said indicator hand is adapted to sweep to indicate the load to which said main scale beam is subjected.

2. An attachment for an ordinary platform weighing scale for automatically indicating scale loads when the ordinary poise is maintained in a fixed position on the scale beam and comprising a secondary beam hav ing a long end and a short end, the long end thereof linked to the free end of the main beam of the scale, a counterbalance beam linked at one end to the short end of the secondary beam, a pendulum counterbalance weight carried by the opposite end of said counterbalance beam, a pivotally mounted indicator hand operatively connected to said counterbalance beam for positive movement thereby to indicate the position thereof, said position being determined by a balance automatically established between said pendulum weight and the load on the scale, and a dial over which said inclicator hand sweeps to show the weight of said load.

3. An attachment for an ordinary beam scale for automatically counterbalancing and v in'dicatingtheiloadion the scale and comprisingza'n indicator hand, movabl'evover a dial to indicate the load, a pendulum weighted" beam linked to said" hand for positively positioning' same, a secondary scale beam connected atone endto the non-weighted endoiisaid pen'olu'hunv beam and'at the other 1 end linked to the free end of the main beam of the scale for aositive' movement thereby, whereb the weight on the pendulum lever at the other end linked to the free end of the main beam of the scale for positive move inent thereby, whereby the weight on the pendulum lever automatically counterbalances the load on the scale and the hand indicates said load, and means for governing the movements of said pendulum beam to prevent sudden oscillations thereof.

5. An attachment for an ordinarv beam scale for automatically counterbalancing and indicating the load on the scale and comprising an indicator hand, movable over a dial to indicate the load, a pendulum weighted beam linked to said hand for positively positioning same, a secondary scale beam connected at one end to the nonweighted end of said pendulum beam and at the other end linked to the free end of the main beam of the scale for positive movement thereby, whereby the weight on the pendulum lever automatically counterbalances the load on the scale and the hand indicates said load, a piston, rigid connec tion between the piston and said pendulum lever for causing positive movements of the piston corresponding with those of the lever, and a cylinder in which said piston is movable to constitute a dash pot to prevent sudden oscillations of said pendulum lever.

6. An attachment for ordinary scales having a beam for converting the same into an automatic weight indicator of a capacityequal to the maximum weight indications of the scale-beam, said attachment comprising an indicating dial mounted on a rigid portion of the scale and bearing a graduated scale indicating weight to the maximum weightindication capacity of the scalebeam, an indicator hand adapted to register on said graduated scale, a weighted pendulum lever linked to said hand for actuating same, and easily disconnectible link connections between the scale beam and the pendu- Ium lever for actuating the latter in accordname in presence of two subscribing Vwitance with the movements of the scale-beam nesses. under the influence of load on the scale platform whereby the scale is readily con 5 vertible froman ordinary beam scale to an Witnesses:

automaticscale and back again. M. M. BOYLE,

In testimony whereof I have signed my W. A. PETERS.

GULDBRAND GULDBRANDSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of Ila'cenfl Washington, D. 0- 

